Oliver Optic

“ Leopold had only the light of his lantern to enable him to work, and his task was gloomy enough to satisfy the veriest money-digger that ever delved into the earth for hidden treasure. In half an hour, more or less, he had dug the hole a foot deep, and then felt that he had reduced this part of the beach to its former elevation, at the time of the wreck of the Waldo. A descent of another foot would decide whether or not the treasure had an existence, save in the brain of the sick man. ”

“ Leopold looked at Stumpy, and Stumpy looked at Leopold. The money-digger and the clam-digger realized that they were in a bad scrape. This little dandy in eye-glasses had certainly upset all Leopold's plans for the disposition of the gold.
"Halveses!" shouted Charley a second time, as he adjusted his eye-glasses, and fixed his gaze upon the wet shot-bag which contained the hidden treasure.
"I think not," added Leopold.
"No? When a fellow finds any money, the rule is to divy with all present," added Charley. ”

“ But Leopold did not like Charley Redmond, for the young gentleman was a person of ten times as much importance, in his own estimation, as his father. He was supercilious, and, unlike the rest of the party, looked down upon the boatman, and everybody else in the town.
"Of course you couldn't expect much of a fellow down here," added Charley.
"He knows twice as much as you do," retorted Isabel, as the skipper took his place at the helm, thus putting an end to the conversation.
"Now shove her off, Stumpy," said Leopold.
"Stumpy!" ejaculated Charley, with a laugh. "That's a romantic name." ”

“ Rosabel, in her terror, had thrown her arms around his neck, clinging to him with all her might. When he paused, she felt, reposing on his powerful muscles, that she was safe—she confessed it afterwards; though, in that terrible sea, and near those cruel rocks, the strength of the strongest man was but weakness. Leopold waited. If the sea would only recede for an instant, it would give him the opportunity to reach the broader beach beyond the shelf, over which he could pass to the Hole in the Wall. ”

“ After a hard struggle for life, they perished.
Harvey Barth alone was spared, and he rested on the flat rock in the ravine till his wasted breath and meagre strength were regained. Then he continued his weary ascent till he reached the summit of the cliffs, where he saw the boat made fast to the wreck, and the mate and passenger clinging to the forestay. In the next glare of the lightning, with a thrill of horror, he saw the hulk topple over and disappear in the mad waves. ”

“ Leopold told him the whole story, from the first glimpse he had of Harvey Barth's diary, down to the finding of the bag of gold.
"I swow!" exclaimed Stumpy, drawing a long breath, when the narrative was finished. "Twelve hundred in gold!"
"I haven't counted it; but that's what the diary says," replied Leopold.
"You will be as rich as mud, Le. Gold! Then it's worth double that in paper."
"It don't belong to me," answered Leopold, decidedly.
"It belongs to you as much as it does to any one."
"But I intend to find the owner, or the heirs of the man who buried the gold." ”

“ He had landed near the ravine by which Harvey Earth had escaped from the angry billows, and he walked to the farther end of the beach without seeing any rock which bore the least resemblance to a coffin. The tide was rising all the time, driving him nearer and nearer to the cliff. Leopold was not much excited, for his former failure to find the hidden treasure had almost convinced him that no such thing existed. ”

“ Leopold read the account of the burying of the money again; but he could not recall any rock answering to the description in the book. He had dug up the sand under every projecting rock that overhung the beach, to the depth of a foot, without finding the treasure. By the death of every person on board of the brig except Harvey Barth, the knowledge of the acts of Wallbridge was necessarily confined to him. If the money had ever been buried on the beach, Leopold was confident it was there now. No one could have removed it, for no one could have suspected its existence. ”

“ Captain 'Siah was nervous, though he was as [Pg 22] familiar with the bay as he was with the apartments in his own house. He knew every island and head land, every rock and shoal, and the situation of every light-house; but the barometer had warned him of nothing less than a hurricane. The Waldo was an old vessel, and barely sea-worthy, even for a summer voyage, to the region of hurricanes. He had, therefore, many misgivings, as he paced the quarter-deck, watching the angry bolts of lightning, and listening to the deafening roar of the thunder. ”

“ Probably Leopold had as much romance in his nature as most young men of seventeen, and after his first full season in the Rosabel, the beautiful face and form of Miss Hamilton were a very distinct image in his mind, often called up, and often the subject of his meditations, though he could not help thinking of the wide gulf that yawned between the daughter of the rich merchant and the son of the humble landlord of a small hotel. ”

“ Hamilton and Leopold. Mrs. Wormbury cried with joy, and was not less happy than her son.
"Come, Stumpfield, don't go crazy," said she.
"The house is paid for, mother, and you don't owe a single dollar in the whole world to any man, woman or child—except Leopold," shouted Stumpy, checking himself at the end of his enthusiastic discourse. "We ought to give him five hundred dollars of this money."
"Not a cent of it to me!" protested the skipper of the Rosabel; "but you may do it in the other way if you like." ”

“ I shall not hold out much longer."
"O, yes, you will. You may live to be a hundred years old yet," added Wallbridge, rather lightly.
"No; my end isn't a great way off," added the steward, with a sigh, as the passenger, evidently not pleased with the turn the conversation had taken, walked away from the galley.
Any one who looked at Harvey Barth would have found no difficulty in accepting his gloomy prediction; and yet he was, as events occurred, farther from his end than his companions in the brig. The steward sat before his stove, gazing at the planks of the deck under his feet. ”

“ I fished within a cable's length of the Ledges. I don't know but the sugar and molasses from the brig drew the mackerel around her," laughed Leopold, as he took an old black wallet from his pocket.
"Were there any other boats near you?" asked the prudent landlord.
"Not another one; folks are tired of trying for mackerel, and have given it up. I didn't expect to find any, but I happened to have my jigs in the boat; and for an hour I worked three of them as lively as any fellow ever did, I can tell you."
"Did they ask you at the fish market where you got them?" ”

“ I want you to see the place at once, Belle."
"I shall be delighted to go, especially if we are to sail in the Rosabel," replied Miss Peterson. "Isn't it a nice thing to have a boat named after you!"
"Of course it is a very great honor," laughed Rosabel, as she shook back the affluence of wavy auburn locks which fell upon her shoulders. "Leopold is a real good fellow."
"He is a very good-looking fellow, too," added Isabel, in a lower tone. "His face is handsome, and if he were only dressed in good style, he would be magnificent." ”

“ By the time he had finished the work, the Rosabel had been hauled up to the beach, and the painter of the old boat attached to her stern. In a few moments the money-digger and his friend were under way, standing towards the mouth of the river.
"I don't see why my father should be worried about me," said Leopold, as he seated himself at the tiller.
"You don't very often go out in the night, and in a thunder-storm, too. I was worried about you myself, Le, for any fellow might be caught in a squall. ”

“ I hope you don't think I came down here, all the way from New York, to cheat or wrong anybody."
"I hope not. If you did, I can't do anything for you."
"You shall judge for yourself. It is just as Harvey Barth said: you are a good young man, and you will be as honest by me as you mean to be by other folks."
"Of course I will be."
"Your share of the money will be five hundred dollars. Shall you be satisfied with this?"
"I think I shall be," laughed Leopold, to whom the amount seemed like a fortune. ”

“ Just at this point Leopold was bothered. If Stumpy reached the hotel first, he would tell Mr. Bennington where he had found his son, on the beach under High Rock, with a lantern and shovel in his hand. Of course his father would wish to know what he was doing there; and under present circumstances this would be a hard question, for Leopold was deeply indoctrinated with the "little hatchet" principle. In a word, he could not tell a deliberate lie. He could not place himself in a situation where a falsehood would be necessary to extricate himself from a dilemma. ”

“ With one consent, the four men leaped from the boat into the surf. The mate carried the painter on shore with him, and endeavored to swing around the boat, which had come stern foremost to the beach. Burns imprudently moved out into the surf to assist him, when the undertow from a heavy wave swept him far out into the angry sea. In the mean time, Wallbridge and Harvey Barth retreated towards the cliff. The tide was still rising, and the beach afforded but partial shelter from the fury of the billows. ”

“ How any man could help wishing to save a dollar a day on his board, was more than the squire was able to comprehend.
"I have already spoken for rooms at the Sea Cliff House, and they have made fires in them for us," replied Mr. Hamilton, unmoved by the old man's powerful appeal.
"Ethan will give you a fire, and not charge you anything extra for it, as they do at Bennington's," added the squire. "He can accommodate the whole party if you will sleep two in a bed. You will save at least fifteen dollars a day by going to the Island Hotel." ”

“ You can't take a boat and pull in a straight line in any direction without running on the rocks," added Leopold.
"I'm glad we are in a safe harbor," continued the old sea-dog, but in a tone which seemed to belie his words, for he was not quite willing to believe that the boy had piloted the vessel four or five miles, without even seeing the shore a single time.
"When did you leave New York, Captain Bounce?" asked Leopold.
"Three days ago. We had a fine run till we went into the fog yesterday morning. The wind was contrary, and in beating my way up I lost my reckoning. ”

“ Stumpy, dressed in his Sunday clothes, looked more like a gentleman than usual. Mr. Redmond tried to make fun of him before the girls, but Stumpy was too much for him, and retorted so smartly that he turned the laugh upon the fop.
Rosabel's long auburn tresses floated on the breeze, and Leopold could not help looking at her all the time, thinking that she was the prettiest girl in the whole world. He was very attentive to her, and when the yacht anchored in the harbor of Rockland, she permitted him to hand her into the boat. ”

“ Bennington was on the jump all the time, and so was Leopold. The landlady, who was also the cook, was "spreading herself" to the utmost upon the dinner. They all knew that the success of the house depended in a very great measure upon the satisfaction given to these wealthy and influential guests. The landlord, however, knew better than to waste his strength upon mere "style," for he could not expect to equal that to which his present patrons were all accustomed at home. He wanted the best of meats and vegetables, well cooked, and served hot. ”

“ Leopold listened with all his might, and in less than half an hour he heard the surges on the ledges, faintly, at first, in the distance.
"Breakers ahead!" shouted Captain Bounce.
"I know it; trust your best friend and don't be alarmed," replied Leopold. "There is water enough here to float a seventy-four."
He allowed the Orion to proceed on her course, till he could hear very distinctly the breakers on the ledges, and was sure they were the High Rock ledges.
"Starboard the helm, and start your sheets," shouted the pilot. ”

“ Squire Moses, Ethan, and the village lawyer were with her, and were about to give the legal notice of the foreclosure of the mortgage. The old man was afraid that he should be cheated out of his prey if he waited any longer. Stumpy rushed into the house, followed by Mr. Hamilton and Leopold.
"O, my son," exclaimed Mrs. Wormbury, "the house is to be taken from us!"
"Not now," interposed Squire Moses. "I told you that you might stay here till the first of August. I'm not a hard man, to turn you out without any notice. I always mean to do what is just right." ”

“ Four and a half pounds is not much for a man to carry on land, but I should not want to be obliged to swim with this weight in my trousers' pocket, even when I was in good health.
"Wallbridge said he would bury the money in the sand, under a projecting rock in the cliff, so that he could come and get it when he wanted it. Just then a flash of lightning came, and I looked up at the cliff under which he stood. I saw the projecting rock, and it looked to me, in the blaze of the lightning, just like a coffin, from where I stood. ”